Come on In. I just made cookies.

Hello? Hello? Anyone here? ~sneeze~ Geez, it's gotten dusty. Where's the vacuum? OH Eeeek! Ugh. Ew. I walked into a spiderweb. Pth. Pbth. Blech. Sorry, spider. I'll open up this window. . . there. Now, let's just dust this off and then I'll build a nice fire and warm things up in here. Hey, hand me a rag, will'ya? Thanks.

* * *

Ahh, there now. Here, have a seat by the fire. Would you like some tea? I've just put the kettle on. Or there's eggnog in the fridge. . . Oh? Yes, I have that too. Excellent. Here, you are. That's better,isn't it? I've been away far too long. You know how it is, over the holidays- you write a post or two in November, and you have all these ideas in the wings, and then BLAM! Holiday preparations hit you like a mack truck and suddenly you're just barely hanging on as you careen on down the highway, trucking along to your destination. No time for a brief stroll to visit the blog, air out your thoughts a bit, maybe have a relaxed conversation. And so the blog sits, abandoned, with no words to mark this passing time. Soon, only memories (and what unlikely photos you've managed to grab) are all that remains of another year gone by. That, and the mess.

Well, at least I've managed to stop in this evening. Thanks for visiting! It's so lovely to find a few readers hanging on against all odds. Especially since I seldom visit your blogs anymore. Sorry about that. I'll be back! Probably next year, but given time, I'll pop by again. In the meantime I've been doing pretty well checking off my real-world to-do list, and hopefully remembering to have some fun, too. I hope things are good for you as well.

Today was a whirlwind. By this evening my nerves were a bit raw. Dinner was rough- the kids pounded me with an unbelievable array of persistent demands, questions, whining, pleading, griping and just general noisemaking. Babyman was hungry, crying, and rejecting everything I offered. Finally he settled on a boiled egg, which he rejected as soon as I finally placed it in front of him. Meanwhile, my soup grew cold. Amidst all of this, the Pirate decided it was a good idea to go empty the wastebasket out onto the living room floor. It made a great big pile of dog hair, random bits of trash and tons of used-up crayon nubs and dried-out markers that I'd cleaned out of the crayon bin. For a moment, my energy ebbed completely away and I just lay my head down on the table in front of me, despair amidst the din.

I bucked up and made the Pirate clean up the mess. Then what did I do? Why, made Emergency Chocolate Cookies, of course!

I did a Google search to find what I was looking for. They were just as fast, easy and yummy as I needed. Perfection!

Emergency Chocolate Cookies

1 box dark chocolate cake mix
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, blending well. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little water. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute before removing from the cookie sheets.

For altitudes above 3500 feet, add 1/4 cup flour to dry cake mix.

Voila! Tasty. Everyone went to bed happy. Enjoy. And, remember to relax a little. :)
See ya when I see ya.
;)